_________________"Clark came through at the end of the first lap so far ahead that we in the pits were convinced that the rest of the field must have been wiped out in an accident."-Eddie Dennis, describing the dominance of Jim Clark in the Lotus 49 at Spa 1967

We are down to our final two, Black_Flag_11 and robins13. Number one and number two in the overall standings. The #1 seed up against the #6 seed, and just like the U.S. election, it's the underdog who has the advantage. Black_Flag_11 scores eight points courtesy of correctly predicting a Hamilton-Rosberg Mercedes one-two. It could've been even better if Sebastian Vettel hadn't been penalised, but with robins13 failing to register so much as a point, it leaves Black_Flag_11 heading into Brazil with a 1-0 lead.

#1 robins13 0 - 1 #6 Black_Flag_11 (Mexico: 0-8)

What this means is that our first Knockout Cup winner could be crowned this weekend in Brazil. Should Black_Flag_11 outscore robins13 in any way, shape or form, it'll result in an insurmountable 2-0 lead. Conversely, if robins13 gets the better of Black_Flag_11 this weekend then the Knockout Cup will head for an Abu Dhabi showdown!

_________________"Clark came through at the end of the first lap so far ahead that we in the pits were convinced that the rest of the field must have been wiped out in an accident."-Eddie Dennis, describing the dominance of Jim Clark in the Lotus 49 at Spa 1967

Probably the same place as my teammate, the ex-champion. It's not looking good for last year's old guard right now!

I've received your picks and I'll post them after the deadline (probably well after, since I don't plan on being awake for FP3). Any message Black_Flag_11 sends before the deadline will also be posted, overriding the one currently posted in the thread.

In a direct reversal of last time out - which was, frankly, quite boring except for a late tussle - the venerable Interlagos circuit produced what was quite possibly the most entertaining race of the year, featuring spins, crashes, exceptional drives by a number of the usual wet-weather suspects and heartbreak for a number of those less skilled or lucky in the tricky conditions. The general sentiment among the Top Three competition was that Hamilton would deliver his usual wet-weather form and finally break his nine year losing streak in Brazil; that proved to be the case, and as a result scores are generally fairly high across the board. The second spot was mostly filled by the conservative pick of his teammate Nico Rosberg, which also proved correct; two contestants took a chance on Verstappen, and must have been feeling rather good about it until Red Bull inexplicably called their driver in from a safe second place to pit for inters. This proved a questionable choice to put it mildly, and Rosberg duly took second place; a remarkable wet weather drive from Verstappen, perhaps fueled as much by frustration as anything else, saw the Dutchman recover to finish third: this entire podium was correctly foreseen by a pair of Perfect Podium virgins in this competition, Lotus49 and Remmirath - congratulations!

Special mention goes out to TypingChicane, who would almost certainly have scored a perfect podium with Hamilton-Verstappen-Rosberg if not for Red Bull's terrible strategy.

A high scoring round sees relatively little change in the standings, but that's exactly how robins13 would have liked it. For the runaway championship leader, whose lead had been reduced in troubling string of consecutive races, eight points proved sufficient. Scoring the same as Black_Flag_11, robins13 will maintain the 16 point gap between the two. With only 14 points on offer in Abu Dhabi, it is now mathematically impossible for anyone to catch the leader; barring a shocking disqualification or other mishap, robins13 is the 2016 champion of CarlPotter's Top Three Championship. Well done, robins13!

In the champion's wake, Black_Flag_11 - who will not be champion this year, despite putting in a strong late season charge - is still very much the favorite to secure a personal best 2nd place, having a 6-point cushion over Herb, and more perfect podiums to break a tie if it comes down to that. Herb has been arguably the hottest competitor of all lately, however, and Black_Flag_11 would be well advised not to take the position for granted, even with a sizable advantage. A perfect podium by either Mayhem or Exediron could also see them steal second place at the final race.

The pair remain separated by only a single place, as they have been seemingly all year - but the momentum has switched in Mayhem's favor, and with both moving up ahead of the non-scoring Icemanjee1, it is now Mayhem who leads the way, taking 4th position over Exediron's 5th. Fourth and fifth is exactly where the two competitors finished last year, although on that occasion they were both actively involved in the battle for the title at the final race.

Icemanjee1's tumble down the order continues past mcdo and Jenson's Understeer, who move up to 6th and 7th positions respectively, tied on points and separated by mcdo's single perfect podium. Only remotely involved in the battle for the final podium positions, these two are the beginning of the very heated battle for 4th; any one of nine contestants could still claim the top non-podium position, including cm97 and Remmirath, who sit level with Icemanjee1 on points now - both have only a single perfect podium to their names, and as such remain behind for the time being in 9th and 10th places.

Further back, TypingChicane becomes the latest competitor to jump the free-falling Saz, who posts another DNS, while Ruste13's absentee battle to escape last place continues; 8 points or more in Abu Dhabi would be enough, providing one of Bentrovato, GPG or Jezza13 fails to score. Considering that two of the three posted a DNS in this race (and one of whom has posted three in a row) that seems a safe enough thing to bet on.

robins13 may have clinched the individual title, but the champion-elect's team is very much under threat for their position at the top of the teams' championship, now just 2 points ahead of the fast-charging Mind Your Manors; the battle has also been joined by Understeer = Mayhem, a further 2 points back. With as much as 28 available in Abu Dhabi, it seems very unlikely that Fire & Ice will manage to hold on to the #1 spot unless Saz reappears - or robins13 finds a mercenary to fill in for the season finale.

A few points back, in what is rapidly becoming the battle for 4th, Multi21 and McLotus remain locked in a dead heat, broken only by number of wins. McLotus were the highest scoring team this time out, and will be hoping for a similar result in Abu Dhabi to not only secure 4th place for them, but perhaps even challenge for one of the podium places in the teams' championship.

Behind them, it's joy for Crash & Learn, who jump to 6th position on the strength of their first perfect podium of the year - they were the last team to earn one, with every other outfit already having secured at least a single perfect prediction.

But it's heartbreak for the defending champions; having now fallen 32 points behind Fire & Ice, it is now over for No Limit Excedrin Racing. They cannot defend either half of their record-setting double title from a year ago, and with GPG currently unaccounted for, they are in real danger of being demoted a further place by Lucky 13 Racing; fortunately for the defending champs, Lucky 13 Racing is also a one-driver outfit at present, with Jezza13 failing to submit a prediction for the first time this year. That one driver however is the red-hot Herb, who has just come off a personal-best streak of back-to-back perfect podiums. Another would be enough to clinch 7th position, if neither No Limit driver scores in Abu Dhabi.

At the back, Redline GP has been having trouble getting consistent scoring from both drivers, and would realistically now need a double perfect podium at the final race to have any chance of escaping last place.

Championship Clinching Scenarios for Abu Dhabi

robins13 has already clinched the individual championship, and needs only avoid being disqualified from the season to take the title in Abu Dhabi.

Every team above No Limit Excedrin Racing is still in contention for the teams' championship, although Crash & Learn would need a double perfect podium with none of the top three teams even getting a single correct prediction for the race winner.

Who will be the champions when the dust settles? We'll find out in two weeks time!

An exciting race by the end, and I'd be lying to say that I'm not thrilled with the way it fell out for me! First perfect podium, yes! Now let's see what Crash & Learn can do in Abu Dhabi -- moving up another position, much less challenging for one of the top three spots, is a big ask... and of course congratulations are in order for robins13 for clinching the individual championship.

_________________"Clark came through at the end of the first lap so far ahead that we in the pits were convinced that the rest of the field must have been wiped out in an accident."-Eddie Dennis, describing the dominance of Jim Clark in the Lotus 49 at Spa 1967

Black_Flag_11 had the opportunity to clinch the inaugural Knockout Cup by outscoring robins13 at Interlagos, and having correctly predicted a Hamilton-led Mercedes 1-2, for a moment it looked like that could be exactly what happens. However, robins13 demonstrated why they've just been claimed Champion for the season, also correctly identifying it would be Hamilton and Rosberg on the top two steps of the podium. It meant both finalists scored eight points, leaving us with the following score heading into Abu Dhabi:

#1 robins13 0 - 1 #6 Black_Flag_11 (Brazil: 8-8)

The equation is pretty simple now: in order to win the Knockout Cup, robins13 has to outscore Black_Flag_11 by eight or more points in Abu Dhabi. That would leave us tied at 1-1 with robins13 taking the title based on the first tiebreaker (most points scored over the three rounds) or, if robins13 outscores Black_Flag_11 by exactly eight points, winning it by virtue of being the higher seed. If Black_Flag_11 is outscored by seven or less points, or outscores robins13 in Abu Dhabi, then it'll be Black_Flag_11 who is crowned the Knockout Cup winner.

Since the champion of the knockout cup is still in doubt, if either robins13 or Black_Flag_11 wants to submit their picks to me by PM, they can feel free to do so at any time before the start of FP3 and I'll post them after the entries close.

Since the champion of the knockout cup is still in doubt, if either robins13 or Black_Flag_11 wants to submit their picks to me by PM, they can feel free to do so at any time before the start of FP3 and I'll post them after the entries close.

_________________"Clark came through at the end of the first lap so far ahead that we in the pits were convinced that the rest of the field must have been wiped out in an accident."-Eddie Dennis, describing the dominance of Jim Clark in the Lotus 49 at Spa 1967